In Week 5 The Cougs capitalize on Colorado mistakes

Insider Steve’s WSU Cougars MMQB

As ugly as the Washington State Cougars played for the first three and a half quarters, the only thing that mattered was the way they finished.

And did they ever finish.

Trailing 27-17 with five minutes left on the clock, Marshall Lobbestael rallied the Cougars from ten points down to grab this game from Colorado 30-27.

It wasn’t just late game heroics that made this game so impressive, but the way the Cougars were able to keep there composure amid adversity.

For a good portion of this game, penalties dictated much of what the Cougars were able to do on offense. This very easily could’ve been the excuse for why they didn’t win.

Instead, the Cougars kept their composure. They didn’t allow penalties to dictate momentum. Because of that, they were able to win a big conference road game they otherwise would’ve lost.

For head coach Paul Wulff, the Cougars didn’t exactly start out the way they expected.

Insider Steve’s WSU Cougars MMQB

The game opened with an with interception, a turnover on downs, and a punt on their first four possessions.

Couple that with the 7 penalties for 90 first half yards, and most would’ve recognized these Cougs as an unprepared, undisciplined team.

But outside of Paul Wulff gaff to squib kick after tying the ball game at 10, the Cougs managed to only trail by three at the half.

After both Colorado and Washington State opened up the second half with with scoring drives of 79 and 80 yards, both combined on four drives of a total of 18 total yards and four punts. It wasn’t until Colorado scored at the 7 minute mark of the fourth quarter did this game get interesting.

After the Cougars offense responded with a touchdown of their own, the defense then came up with the biggest series of the game, and maybe even the year.

With Colorado on offense, and taking advantage of a Cougars pass interference call, the defense came up with a key third down stop two plays later to force a punt. That would put the ball back in Marshall Lobbestael’s hands for the eventual game winner.

This game was more then just a win.

This game was the turning point in this programs rebuilding effort.

This was the game in which they were able to overcome a bad start and able to finish amid an overall sloppy performance. The entire week and a half leading up to this game, head coach Paul Wulff was stressing the importance of being able to finish off ball games, and this ended up being the final result.

Cougars Notes:

QB Jeff Tuel has been cleared to practice with full pads. Paul Wulff has stated that Tuel could be available this week when WSU travels to Pasadena to face the Bruins.